09/03/2014

Alleys at night

Dusty old Beijing alley at night
from last autumn

It's nearly 2 am. I can't sleep. I've been skimming the news. Had some peanut butter. Sometimes that helps. It didn't. Now I'm in the front room. When I look through the sliding glass door to my right I can see the amber lights of the town through the bare branches of the trees. I can hear the cheap clock ticking from the kitchen and the ringing in my right ear. When I look directly up from the screen I stare into pure black. I can't detach. Can't drift into sleep. Now my eyes are adjusting a little to the room. Light reflecting off the glass of a picture hanging on the wall opposite me emerges from the blackness. I can see the outline of the dark ceiling above the white walls. I'm restless inside. Unused. Disconnected. The I Ching tells me I must endure this eclipse.



3 comments:

Roy said...

I understand the feeling sometimes. Word verification is "appease."

I don't like the ringing. Right ear, too. Definitely puts a layer of unreality over everything.

I do like the picture. Film Noir! Convert to black & white and photoshop a dame in a black dress smoking a cigarette--make that a dame whose figure described a pair of parabolas that would cause cardiac arrest in a yak. What was she doing in the middle of the night, standing in the alley outside my office? She said she needed help, but she looked more like she needed (cont. on back cover)

Paula said...

I've been having trouble clearing my mind of debris lately. It's starting to be a real problem.

asha said...

Roy....hmmmm....I think you're on to something there. Gimme a minute or 60.

Paula, you too? Damn. Drag, isn't it?